Lucky
by thisgirlwrites
Summary: How much bad luck can one person have? And how much of that luck will affect the people around her... especially Jesse?
1. Unexpected Guest

Disclaimer: The standard disclaimer. A must. Most of the characters come from Diagnosis Murder which I obviously don't own. But you could have figured that out on your own, couldn't you?

Lucky

Chapter 1: Unexpected Guest

It was before 11 o' clock this Thursday morning, and the hallways of Community General were uncharacteristically quiet. Quiet at least until the lunch hour when the most bizarre injuries were apt to occur. At that time, the staff would be kept busy, but until then, there were only the usual rounds to make.

Dr. Jesse Travis sat leaning back in a chair in the doctor's lounge, a cup filled with coffee held in his right hand. He glanced down at the dark liquid in the cup, wondering why they all relied so much on coffee to keep them going throughout the day. They were doctors and nurses after all; all of them well aware of the hazards of caffeine.

"De-caf next time," he murmured to himself as he drained the cup. He always told himself that, never listened, but kept saying it anyway.

His coffee gone, he stood and turned to face the trashcan by the door. A quick game of trashcan basketball would wake him up more than the near-tasteless coffee had. He cast a cautious glance out into the hallway to be certain that no one was walking by. Satisfied, he walked a bit further from the door, then turned and aimed.

"He shoots," he announced to himself. To his dismay, the cup flew past the trashcan and out the door. It landed in the hallway next to none other than Dr. Amanda Bentley. She looked down at the cup and then at Jesse, an amused expression on her face.

"Stick to being a doctor Jess. You won't hurt anyone that way," she teased him as she walked past the fallen cup and into the room. He only smiled sheepishly as he went to retrieve the "basketball." After depositing it carefully in the trashcan, he turned back to Amanda, who was busy pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"So, Amanda," he ventured as he sat back down in one of the chairs. "You on break too?"

She turned around to face him but remained silent as she tasted her drink. Not much like a café or even the coffee she made at home, but at least it was warm, and a few spoonfuls of sugar would definitely improve its taste.

"Not exactly, but I'm done in the path lab for now," she finally answered as she sat down as well. "What about you, Jess? Isn't your shift almost over?"

He shrugged as he replied, "You know, I've been here so long I can't even remember any more."

She looked him over carefully, noticing the faint traces of dark circles under his eyes.

"You didn't do _another_ double shift, did you?"

He nodded, avoiding her disapproving eyes before he rested his forehead on the side of the table. What he really wanted to do was lie down on the couch, but he knew that the moment he relaxed, he would inevitably fall asleep. The hard wood of the table was a poor substitute, but at least it was uncomfortable enough to prevent him from dozing off.

"James fed me some story about it being his girlfriend's birthday, and how he wanted to do something special for her," he explained, still not lifting his head. He should have said no, but he was too easily persuaded. How many hours _had_ he been at the hospital anyway?

Amanda opened her mouth to chide him for agreeing to double shifts so often, but a page over the hospital intercom pre-empted her.

"Dr. Travis, please report to the nurses' station."

He finally lifted his head from the table but made no motion to stand. Now that he was sitting down, he had lost any momentum he might have had. He felt too tired now to even move, much less walk all the way to the nurses' station.

"Come on, Jesse," prompted Amanda as she stood up. She was going to head back to the pathology lab anyway, so she might as well accompany him, if only to make sure he didn't collapse on his way there.

He groaned as he stood up slowly. This was the _last_ time he would agree to a double shift. He'd be perfectly alert if he were actually attending to a patient, but it was much harder to fight off this wave of drowsiness when there was nothing for him to do, save the paperwork he usually avoided.

They made their way silently through the mostly empty hallway until they reached the nurses' station.

"Call for me?" Jesse asked the nurse behind the desk. She glanced up at him with a look of mild annoyance on her face.

"Good, you're here," she began as she stood up. She was a plump middle-aged woman, who obviously did not like when her daily routine was interrupted, as, judging by the look on her face, it had been today. "There's a young woman in that room who is absolutely _adamant_ about seeing you."

Jesse looked at her a bit more alert, his curiosity aroused. Amanda glanced over at him, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Uh, did she say why?" he asked hastily when he noticed Amanda's none-too-discreet look.

"Well, she came in about fifteen minutes ago with a minor injury," explained the nurse, moving her hands about as she spoke. "She let one of the nurses treat her, but she _insisted_ the entire time that she had to see you."

"Do you have her name?" he questioned, hoping the name would shed some light on the young woman's intention.

"It's around here somewhere," the nurse murmured as she shuffled through some of the many papers on the desk, but before she could find it, the much-spoken-about young woman stepped into the hallway. "Well, there she is," pointed out the nurse as they all turned to look at her. She stared back at them for a moment before a wide smile spread across her face.

"Jesse!" cried the young woman as she dropped the oversized black bag she carried. Heedless of the quizzical glances she was given, she ran across the tiled floor of the hospital.

"Zoey!" he exclaimed, surprise being a word not great enough to describe his expression.

She all but lunged at him, wrapping her slender arms around him.

"Oh my gosh! I've missed you _so_ much!" she told him, hugging him tighter. He quickly returned the embrace as his expression changed from one of shock to one of pure delight.

"Zoey, what are you doing here? I never would have thought to even look for you until at least next week," he said to her as she released him.

"I know, I'm early, but I just couldn't wait any longer," she explained, shrugging casually. "What's the matter?" she asked, giving him a playful smile. "Did I come at a bad time?"

He laughed aloud before answering, "No, no, not at all. You just surprised me."

It was then that he noticed Amanda giving him one of her "looks."

"Ah, where are my manners? Zoey, this is Dr. Amanda Bentley," he introduced the young woman to his colleague.

"Oh!" exclaimed the girl, clapping her hands together. "Jess has told me _so_ much about you. It's a pleasure to meet you," she fairly gushed.

"Likewise," responded Amanda curtly, returning the girl's raving with a quick nod. "Dr. Travis, could I see you for a moment?"

"Uh yeah, sure," he agreed somewhat hesitantly as he wondered why Amanda's tone had suddenly turned so frosty. He turned to the young woman before continuing, "Zoey, why don't you go pick up your bag over there? I'll be right back."

"Okay," she replied, a bit puzzled but still smiling.

Amanda waited until she was fairly certain the girl was out of hearing range before turning on him.

"Jesse, _what_ do you think you're doing?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

For a moment, he remained silent, unnerved by Amanda's somewhat threatening stance. What _was_ she talking about?

Seeing that he had nothing to say or was at least incapable of speaking at the moment, she continued, "She's a patient, Jesse. Are you out of your mind?"

"A-a patient," he stuttered, confused.

"Yes, a patient. And so young? Doctors have had their careers ruined for less, Jesse."

Slowly it dawned upon him what she was implying. He forced himself to conceal a grin as he looked over at the young woman. Two young male hospital orderlies had appeared from out of nowhere to offer their assistance in carrying her bag. She smiled at them as she assured them that she was quite capable of carrying her own bag.

"Jesse, your personal life is none of my business, but" she trailed off as she noticed his failed attempt to cover his mirth. "Why are you laughing?"

"I'll explain in a minute," he told her, still grinning. "But let's find Mark first. I don't want to have to explain more than once."

"Jesse, what is going on?" Amanda persisted. Now that he had that impish grin on his face, she was more curious than disapproving. He didn't answer, only motioned for the young woman to rejoin them.

"What's up?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to one side.

"We're going to go find Mark. You remember, Dr. Sloan?" he asked her as they walked in the direction of Mark's office.

"Yeah, after everything you've told me about him, how could I forget?" she returned, flashing him a quick smile. "So, I really get to meet him?"

Jesse nodded as he cast a quick glance back at Amanda, who was trailing slightly behind them. She was watching him intently, her arms crossed. She hated when he did this, when he knew something she didn't and tried oh-so-hard to torment her with it. It was working too.

"Here we are," he announced to the young woman as they stopped in front of the office door. He opened the door cautiously and peeked inside. "Got a minute, Mark?"

Dr. Mark Sloan glanced up from the paperwork that threatened to engulf his desk entirely. He took his glasses off as he yawned.

"Of course," he answered, his answer muffled by the yawn. "Come on in."

Jesse grinned, then opened the door to let the young woman and Amanda enter the office. Amanda walked over to Mark's desk while the young woman remained standing slightly behind Jesse.

"Oh, hello there," greeted Dr. Sloan when he noticed the young woman.

Amanda cast Jesse a look that clearly told him not to make her wait any longer.

"Mark, Amanda," he began, looking at each of them. He paused for a moment as he then cast a quick glance at the young woman.

"This is Zoey, my little sister."

And so ends Chapter 1. A bit short, I know. ^_^ Lovely way to end it tho, wouldn't you say? Hee hee. Hope you liked it. Tell me, please? Okay.

~Azuri

dbzazuri@yahoo.com


	2. Explanations

Disclaimer: I don't own Diagnosis Murder. 'Nuff said.

Lucky

Chapter 2: Explanations

Silence had fallen upon the room as Mark and Amanda tried to recover from the sheer unexpectedness of Jesse's statement. Surprising how one short sentence could have such an impact on them.

"Um... uh, pleased to meet you," said Zoey, looking at them nervously. Now that her initial burst of enthusiasm at seeing Jesse again had somewhat subsided, she had become vaguely aware that no one had the slightest clue who she was. Was it possible that they didn't know?

Mark was the first to recover, and he stood up quickly, a wide grin on his face.

"Well, Jesse, you never told us you had a sister," he protested good-naturedly before he turned to the young woman. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Zoey."

At that, she smiled and relaxed a bit. So they really hadn't known. In all the time he had been friends with them, he had never told them he had a sister. She realized now why Dr. Bentley had acted so detached. She must have thought I was crazy, jumping at Jesse like that, thought Zoey ruefully.

Amanda could almost feel herself blushing from the conclusions she had been so hasty to draw. His sister. She certainly hadn't expected that. Looking them over carefully now, Amanda began to notice the similarities between them.

The girl was nearly five inches shorter than Jesse who was often labeled short, despite his protestations. They both had the same blue green eyes, right down to the mischievous gleam. Right now, the girl's usually saucy expression was subdued somewhat, and Jesse's quirky attitude was toned down as well.

The girl's hair was put up in a ponytail, but had it been down it would have been of a medium length. Her hair was definitely several shades darker than Jesse's brownish-blonde, dark enough to be classified as a dark brown. She sported a pair of loose fitting black pants with a baby blue sleeveless shirt. Wrapped around her right wrist was a white gauze bandage, no doubt that had been her "minor injury."

Her examination complete, Amanda finally spoke. "Well Jesse, this certainly is a surprise." Amazing how quickly she could recover her composure, but what else could be expected from a woman in her line of work?

Sensing the awkwardness of the silence that had then settled upon the group, Zoey turned to Jesse.

"You mean, you've really never told them?" she questioned him, incredulously. "I'm not _that_ embarrassing to you, am I?" At that they all laughed, their laughter dissolving the uneasiness quickly and completely.

"No, it's not that Zoey," he protested over their laughter.

"Then?" she began, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Remember Brendan?" he returned, giving her the same quizzical glance. She lost the expression as it was replaced by a rueful look.

"Yeah, well. That wasn't my fault," she protested, the tone of her voice not very convincing.

"Lauren?" he continued.

"Well..."

"Kevin?"

"Okay, okay. Enough," she surrendered, throwing her hands up in the air helplessly.

Mark and Amanda exchanged confused glances. What _were_ those two talking about?

"Anything we should know?" asked Mark, grinning. Zoey only smiled sheepishly as Jesse let out a short laugh.

"Should we be worried?" added Amanda, smiling as well.

"Zoey, why don't you tell them?" Jesse prompted her, that impish grin still on his face.

"Those weren't all my fault, you know," she answered, pretending to be hurt by his teasing. He only laughed again before turning back to Mark and Amanda. They waited expectantly for his explanation.

"Those were some of my friends from college," he began, grinning at the memory. "They all had 'encounters' with Zoey."

"Encounters?" echoed Mark, curious.

"Jess, you make me sound like an alien or something," she protested indignantly. "I didn't actually _do_ anything to any of them."

"The day after Brendan met Zoey he fell down a flight of stairs and broke his arm," explained Jesse, heedless of his sister's protests.

"Well, that's hardly reason to assume that she had anything to do with it," offered Mark.

"No, wait, there's more," continued Jesse. "The same day I told Lauren something about Zoey she got a speeding ticket."

"Well, that's nothing more than a coincidence," countered Amanda, dismissing his superstitions with a wave of her hand.

"Exactly!" agreed Zoey, pouncing on the opportunity. "That's what _I_ keep telling him, but he _never_ listens to me."

"What about Kevin?" questioned Mark, curious about this streak of bad luck that seemed to follow Jesse's sister.

"Kevin's girlfriend broke up with him two days after he met Zoey," answered Jesse, looking over at Zoey as if he half-expected her to suddenly bring some catastrophe down upon them.

"But I didn't do anything," she pouted, giving Jesse her 'I'm-innocent-_really_' look, a look she had practiced often. "It's not like I'm _trying_ to do any of that stuff."

"I know," he finally relented, casting her a quick grin. "But you have to admit, that's a lot of bad luck for one person."

"What can I say? It's a curse," she joked with a shrug of her shoulders.

"So does this 'curse' only affect the people around you, or you too?" questioned Mark, his blue eyes twinkling as they always did when he found something humorous.

"Nope, me too," she answered, holding up her right wrist. "I'm a walking disaster."

"What happened?" asked Amanda.

"I fell down in the parking lot on my way in," Zoey explained, rubbing her wrist in spite of the bandage around it. It still hurt.

"Is it sprained?" Jesse suddenly asked, concerned. For all he teased her, he was still the just the average over protective older brother whenever she was around.

"No, just a scratch," she assured him.

At that moment, the door to the office swung open again, and into the room walked Steve Sloan, apparently engrossed in the document in his hands.

"Hi Dad," he greeted, still not looking up. "Just came by to drop off the final case notes on the Miller case." That said, he looked up, noticing the young woman for the first time. "Oh," he murmured. "Sorry. Am I interrupting?"

"Steve, you're just in time," Mark assured him, as he took the papers and placed them on his desk.

"Steve, this is my little sister Zoey," introduced Jesse quickly.

"H-hi," she greeted, a bit nervously. It was rather intimidating, being the focus of the attention of Jesse's friends.

If Steve was surprised, he was doing an extraordinary job of concealing it. Years as a homicide detective had no doubt taught him that trick.

"Nice to meet you," responded Steve, without missing a beat. He cast a quick glance at Jesse who was deliberately looking away. He was starting to think he really should have told them before. He couldn't help it if he was a bit on the superstitious side. The many mishaps of Carmel had more than convinced him of the validity of bad luck.

"Are you here on vacation or something else?" questioned Mark.

"Actually, I'm going to be attending UCLA in the fall," she answered, grinning to herself. She was still thrilled by the fact that _she_ had actually been accepted. "I graduated from high school back home about a month ago, so I wanted to go ahead and get settled before classes start."

"UCLA," echoed Amanda, impressed. "Congratulations."

"You must be proud Jess," added Steve.

"Oh, I am," he assured them, as he gave a quick tug to her ponytail. She grinned good-naturedly. She had really missed him.

At that moment, Jesse's beeper sounded. He groaned inwardly. In the excitement of seeing Zoey again, he had all but forgotten about how tired he had been.

"I've got to get to the ER," he announced after taking a glance at his pager. "Mark, can you look after Zoey for a little while?"

"_Jess!_" she protested indignantly. "I'm _not_ a little girl. I am 18, you know. I can take care of myself."

He didn't answer her, only cast an imploring look in Mark's direction.

"Well, I don't know about looking after you, but you're welcome to stay here until Jesse's shift ends," offered Mark with a grin.

"Thanks," she accepted.

* * * * *

A short time later, Amanda and Steve had departed as well, leaving only Zoey and Dr. Sloan. She sat cross-legged in a chair facing his desk as they talked.

"Jess talks about you all the time," she told him as she pulled the rubber band out of her hair. It fell neatly in straight locks down to a bit past her shoulders. Much better, she thought.

"Nothing too terrible, I hope," remarked Mark, grinning.

"Oh no. Nothing but the best," she assured him. "So, is it really true that you've solved all those murders?" she asked, wide-eyed and very curious.

"Well not by myself," he chuckled. "But I do like to help Steve out when I can."

"He's a homicide detective _and_ a police officer, right?"

Mark nodded. He sometimes wondered why Steve had chosen such a dangerous profession, but then again _his_ father had been a police officer. Maybe it was almost like an inherited trait that had somehow skipped him. His calling had been to be a doctor; he had never regretted that choice.

"And Dr. Bentley's the county medical examiner," she continued, leaning back as she recalled what Jesse had told her. "_And_ you're a consultant for the police department. Wow. I guess Jesse's the only one without a connection."

"Well, that doesn't stop him from helping," Mark told her with a grin.

"No. I don't think it would," she laughed. "My mom always tells me about how much he liked to be involved in _everything_." She smiled to herself as she uncrossed her legs and allowed them to drop to the floor. She hated sitting still for too long; it made her far too restless. "I haven't seen Jesse since... since Christmas, I think," she said.

"Have you been living with your mother?" asked Mark. He had only seen Jesse's parents once, separately.

"Yeah," she answered with a nod before a slightly bitter look crossed her face. "I haven't seen my father for a long time now. Haven't heard from him in about as long either."

Mark looked her over carefully. She was still only a teenager, and she probably resented the fact that her father seemed so uninterested in his children's lives. Jesse had had a hard enough time coping with his father's long absences. Of course, now, Jesse probably knew a lot more about their father's reasons than she did. He wondered how much she did or didn't know.

"It's okay though," she said suddenly, trying to brush away the thought. "Jesse's been great. He's the best older brother anyone could ask for, even if I haven't gotten to see him much lately."

"You must be excited to be here then," observed Mark.

She nodded enthusiastically. That was an understatement though. She was more than just excited to be in Los Angeles _and_ reunited with her brother. She was out and out thrilled.

"Hey Zoey," came Jesse's voice suddenly as he peered into the room. "Ready to go?"

"Did your shift end already?" asked Mark, taking a quick glance at his watch.

"Dr. Casey came in early, so I'm heading out," Jesse explained, stifling a yawn. "Hope she wasn't too much trouble."

"_Jesse!_" she protested, indignant yet again.

"No trouble at all," Mark defended her, smiling. "Drop by any time. My door's always open."

"Thanks Dr. Sloan," she acknowledged gratefully.

"Please, call me Mark," he told her.

"See, Jess," she pointed out to her drowsy brother. "_He_ doesn't treat me like a little kid."

"Get some sleep, Jesse," advised Mark. "You look exhausted."

"Oh, I'll make sure he does," Zoey assured him cheerfully. "As soon as we get home, which reminds me... I'm driving."

"Oh no," disagreed Jesse, checking his pocket to make sure his keys were still safely out of her reach. "You have no idea what it's like driving in L.A."

"Oh come Jess," she pleaded as they headed for the door. "I'm a good driver. I haven't hit anything too important."

"Too important?"

"Well... the mailbox doesn't count, and neither does the garage door."

"Whoa. When did those happen?"

"A really, really, really, _really_ long time ago," she explained as she cast a backward glance at Mark, who was watching them with an amused expression. "Bye!"

"See you later, Mark," added Jesse as he ushered his little sister out the door and into the hallway.

"Good-bye Jesse, Zoey," Mark returned as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. They were quite a pair, those two. They reminded him of Steve and his sister, Carol, at least how they had acted when they were younger.

Mark sighed as he put his glasses back on, ready to face the mountain of paperwork cluttering his desk. He'd rather not think about that now.

* * * * *

"Come on Jesse, pleeeease," she begged, casting him an entreating look. "Please, please, please? I promise I'll be really careful."

"I don't know Zoey," he responded, pulling the keys out of his pocket but still holding them out of her reach. "You don't know the way home, and you've never driven in traffic like this before either."

"It'll be fine," she argued. "Besides, you look like you're about to fall asleep anyway. Wouldn't it be safer if I drived, er, drove," she corrected herself. Just out of high school and already she was forgetting her grammar. What would her English teachers say?

"Well..." he began, weakening to her pleading.

"You're a doctor. You know that – how does that go – that 'your judgment is impaired when you're drowsy' or something like that," she reasoned. There was a message that at least vaguely resembled that on most prescription medicines, wasn't there?

"Okay," he finally consented, holding the keys out to her.

"Yes!" she celebrated, reaching out quickly for the keys before he changed his mind.

"But," he continued, suddenly holding the much-longed-for keys slightly above her reach, one of the benefits of being taller than someone at least. "No detours, no speeding, no--"

"I know, I know," she assured him quickly as she jumped up and snatched the keys from him. She unlocked the driver's side door to his blue Volkswagen Beetle. She absolutely _loved_ his car, always had. And I finally get to drive it, she thought happily to herself as she leaned over and unlocked the other door. "Come on, Jess."

He mumbled something about sleep deprivation under his breath as he reluctantly got into the car. With any luck, they'd get home in one piece and with his car intact.

* * * * *

"See! I told you we'd make it fine," she announced, triumphantly when they reached the door of his apartment.

"Okay, okay. So, your driving has gotten better," he conceded, as he unlocked the door. He opened it, revealing the mess inside.

"Wow," she whistled. "You're almost as bad as me. Does it always look like this?"

He grinned at her, as he answered, "Not always. It depends on how busy it is at the hospital."

At his own mention of the hospital, yet another wave of drowsiness passed over him. He had managed to stay awake on the way home because he had had to give directions to Zoey, who otherwise would probably have gotten hopelessly lost. Now, though, he wasn't sure how much longer he could fight off the sleep his body was demanding.

"You need to get some sleep," she told him as she pulled the door closed behind them and dropped her bag onto the floor.

"But you just got here Zoey, and we've hardly even had a chance to talk yet," he protested, through a yawn.

"Jess, I'm going to be here for a real long time," she laughed as she pushed him towards what she hoped was his bedroom. She'd never been to his apartment before; well, she'd never been in Los Angeles before. "We'll have lots and lots of time to talk later, _after_ you get some rest."

"Well..."

"Just trust me on this," she said as she gave him a final push. "Besides, doctor's order, you know."

He finally stopped protesting as he stumbled his way to bed. Without another moment's hesitation, he stretched out on his bed and closed his eyes.

Zoey lingered in the doorway for a moment longer as she watched her brother drift off to sleep.

"Good night, Jess," she whispered softly in spite of the afternoon sun that shone outside. She smiled contentedly to herself as she carefully closed the door. Right now, she had enough work to last until he woke up again.

And that, people, is the end of Chapter 2. ~_^ I took a while with this one because, well, I guess dialogue isn't really my strong point. ^_^ Well, I guess I took a bit too long. Final exams are horrible and time-consuming. Sorry about taking so very long with this. Oh yeah, and I know that Jesse doesn't have his VW Bug throughought the whole series but I love that car, so I just had to add it. =) Anywho, guess that's about it. More of the actual plot should come out in the next chapter. It's not Diagnosis Murder unless there's a murder, right?

As always, comments and reviews are muchly appreciated. Thanx.

~Azuri

dbzazuri@yahoo.com


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